Mwanza, TANZANIA
President
of Tanzania, John Magufuli, has said today that national carrier- Air
Tanzania’s aircraft Bombardier Q400 that was impounded in Canada in November this
year before it could be delivered to Tanzania has been released.
The plane is among new planes procured by the government for the national
carrier - Air Tanzania Corporation Limited.
Speaking at the ruling party’s
National Executive Committee sitting in Mwanza, Magufuli said the
aircraft would be received in Mwanza on a date that is yet to be announced.
The President, however, did
not excavate into the details that led to the release of the aircraft that was impounded after, Hermanus Steyn, who was a farmer in Tanzania filed a claim in Canada.
According to Tanzania’s
Foreign Affairs Minister, Palamagamba Kabudi, the seizure was because of a
dispute between Tanzania and the South African farmer, Steyn “seeking
compensation for a farm and other properties that was nationalized in the
1980s”.
Kabudi
claimed that the plane was impounded after the farmer asked the Canadian
authorities to impound the plane, pending a court case from which he is
demanding the Tanzania government to pay him $33 million. He is demanding the
money as a compensation following the government’s decision to seize his land
back in 1980s.
The minister
also expressed concerns over what he claimed as a tendency of Canadian
authorities’ tendency of seizing Tanzania planes.
This was the third seizure incident
of an Air Tanzania aircraft, in August; South African authorities impounded an
Airbus 220-300 leased by Air Tanzania.
With a court battle that
ensued, the plane was later released after the Gauteng Lower Division court in
Dar es Salaam ruled against the seizure.
In November 2017 President John Magufuli wrote to
the Canadian Prime Minister in regard to the seizure of Tanzania-owned
airplane, Bombardier Q400.
The airplane, which was supposed to be delivered in
July, is being held in Canada after the Tanzanian government failed to pay $38
million (equal to Sh83 billion) owed to United Kingdom Stirling Civil
Engineering Limited due to a contractual dispute.
The firm won the tender to construct the Wazo
Hill-Bagamoyo Road but the government terminated the deal without paying
compensation.
The firm, successfully sued Tanzania at the
International Court of Arbitration in Montreal Canada.
The plane was later released but no details were
revealed on what terms were entered between the two parts for the plane
release. - Africa
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